Gratitude: Connects heart, tongue & limbs

Gratitude is thanking the One who grants blessings for His generosity. The gratitude of a servant should have three qualities, without which it can hardly be considered to be gratitude. They are the inner recognition and appreciation of the blessing, speaking about it openly, and using it as a means to worshiping Him.

Gratitude is a matter for the heart, the tongue and the limbs. The heart is for knowledge and love of Him; the tongue is for thanking and praising Him; and the limbs are to be used in obeying the One Who is being thanked, and in holding back from committing disobedient acts.

Allah, Glorious and Exalted is He, has linked gratitude with belief. He says that He does not need to punish His creatures if they thank Him and believe in Him. He says:

What has Allah to do with punishing you, if you are grateful and you believe? (4:147)

The Glorious and Mighty also says that the people who are grateful are singled out from the rest of His servants because of the mercy that He displays towards them. The Mighty and Glorious says:

And thus We test some of them by means of others, so that they say, "Are these the ones whom Allah has favoured from amongst us?" Is not Allah best Aware of those who give thanks? (6:53)

He divides people into those who are grateful and those who are ungrateful; and the most displeasing thing to Him is ingratitude and its people; and the most precious thing to Him is gratitude and its people:

Surely We have shown him the way, whether lie is grateful or ungrateful. (76:3)

And also:

And when your Lord proclaimed: "If you are thankful, I will give you more, but if you are ungrateful, then surely My punishment is terrible indeed." (14:7)

In these ayat, Allah makes the granting of more blessings conditional on gratitude. There is no limit to the increase in His blessings, just as there is no limit to being grateful to Him. Allah, Mighty and Glorious is He, has made a great deal of reward dependent on His will. He says:

And if you fear poverty, Allah will enrich you through His generosity, if He wills. Surely Allah is Knowing, Wise. (9:28)

And also:

And He forgives whomever He wills. (5:40)

And also:

And Allah turns in mercy towards whomever He wills. (9:15)

He puts no limit on His reward for gratitude when He refers to it:

We shall reward those who are thankful. (3:145)

When the enemy of Allah, shaytan, learned of the value of gratitude - and that it is one of the most exalted and highest states - he directed his efforts towards distancing people from it:

"Then will I approach them from in front of them and from behind them, and from their right and from their left; and You will find that most of them are not grateful." (7:17)

Allah has described the grateful ones among His worshipers as being few in number:

And only a few of My servants are grateful. (34:13)

Gratitude is thanking the One who grants blessings for His generosity. The gratitude of a servant should have three qualities, without which it can hardly be considered to be gratitude. They are the inner recognition and appreciation of the blessing, speaking about it openly, and using it as a means to worshiping Him.

Gratitude is a matter for the heart, the tongue and the limbs. The heart is for knowledge and love of Him; the tongue is for thanking and praising Him; and the limbs are to be used in obeying the One Who is being thanked, and in holding back from committing disobedient acts.

Allah, Glorious and Exalted is He, has linked gratitude with belief. He says that He does not need to punish His creatures if they thank Him and believe in Him. He says:

What has Allah to do with punishing you, if you are grateful and you believe? (4:147)

The Glorious and Mighty also says that the people who are grateful are singled out from the rest of His servants because of the mercy that He displays towards them. The Mighty and Glorious says:

And thus We test some of them by means of others, so that they say, "Are these the ones whom Allah has favoured from amongst us?" Is not Allah best Aware of those who give thanks? (6:53)

He divides people into those who are grateful and those who are ungrateful; and the most displeasing thing to Him is ingratitude and its people; and the most precious thing to Him is gratitude and its people:

Surely We have shown him the way, whether lie is grateful or ungrateful. (76:3)

And also:

And when your Lord proclaimed: "If you are thankful, I will give you more, but if you are ungrateful, then surely My punishment is terrible indeed." (14:7)

In these ayat, Allah makes the granting of more blessings conditional on gratitude. There is no limit to the increase in His blessings, just as there is no limit to being grateful to Him. Allah, Mighty and Glorious is He, has made a great deal of reward dependent on His will. He says:

And if you fear poverty, Allah will enrich you through His generosity, if He wills. Surely Allah is Knowing, Wise. (9:28)

And also:

And He forgives whomever He wills. (5:40)

And also:

And Allah turns in mercy towards whomever He wills. (9:15)

He puts no limit on His reward for gratitude when He refers to it:

We shall reward those who are thankful. (3:145)

When the enemy of Allah, shaytan, learned of the value of gratitude - and that it is one of the most exalted and highest states - he directed his efforts towards distancing people from it:

"Then will I approach them from in front of them and from behind them, and from their right and from their left; and You will find that most of them are not grateful." (7:17)

Allah has described the grateful ones among His worshipers as being few in number: